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Built at the junction of Peter Street and Lower Mosley Street opposite Manchester Central railway station, terminus for Midland Railway express trains to London St Pancras, the hotel was designed by Charles Trubshaw and constructed between 1898 and 1903 for the Midland Railway Company at a cost of more than £1 million. In 1908 The Railway News reported that the hotel had over 70,000 guests in its first year and described it as a "Twentieth century palace".[3] The hotel had a 1,000-seat purpose-built theatre where opera, drama and early Annie Horniman performances were staged, and a roof terrace where a string quartet performed.[4]

The Midland Hotel was allegedly coveted by Adolf Hitler, who maintained a keen interest in architecture, as a possible Nazi headquarters in Britain.[5] American intelligence speculated that the area of Manchester around the town hall was spared from bombing so as not to damage or destroy the Midland Hotel.[6]

Once known as the Crowne Plaza Manchester – The Midland it was bought by the Paramount Hotel Group (now Barcelo UK) in 2004.[12] It was upgraded in a £12 million renovation and was transferred QHotels (formerly Quintessential Hotels), Paramount's sister company. The hotel has 312 en-suite bedrooms and 14 suites, a health club and two restaurants – The French and Mr. Cooper's House & Garden.

The French, once described by The Good Food Guide as "Manchester's finest dining room",[13] was one of Britain’s first Michelin-starred restaurants – awarded in 1974 in the first guide.[14] It re-opened in March 2013 and chef Simon Rogan who stated his desire is to re-establish it to its former opulence[15] and was rated the 12th best restaurant nationally in its first year of opening and awarded the best New Entry award by the Good Food Guide.[16][17] The French was awarded three Rosettes – the maximum permitted in the first year of opening.[18]

The Colony was named after the cotton traders who sold raw cotton to mill owners and referred to themselves as the Old Colony Club. It closed for refurbishment in 2013 and re-opened in the September as Mr. Cooper's House & Garden in tribute to Thomas Cooper, whose house and gardens occupied the hotel site in 1819. The family were coach-makers and their garden was famous for its strawberries, gooseberries, apples and flowers.[19]